I've just got in and went to get my recycling bin in

[DoctorTwo]

The binmen haven't emptied it. Instead they hung a note on that reads "OOPS! WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO EMPTY YOUR BIN TODAY. Your recycling bin has not been emptied because it contains items that we cannot recycle or compost.

Please ensure that you remove the items (listed overleaf)so that we can empty your bin on the next collection day"

So I turned the tag over and they have checked the box for garden waste.

In what universe can garden waste not be composted? Might have to leave a scathing comment on the website. Or just whine on MN :o

[TumbleweedOnspeed]

Yep. There's only one endearingly mad local council I can think of that has that many recycle colours. I'll join the club in recognising where ilovepowerhoop and others may live. TMI!

[deakymom]

we just have gree for recycling black for everything else we can buy a brown one for garden waste but i dont bother my garden is small

[choirmumoftwo]

Brown for garden waste (no food waste or tree trunks!), blue for glass/tins/paper/cardboard/plastic/aerosols and green for non-recyclables. All full size wheelie bins which take up a huge amount of space. No complaints with our refuse dpartment though - we've never had any issues.

[trikken]

Little Brown one for food, black for general and green for recycling cardboard, tins, paper, plastic. Oh and green box for glass but we always forget that one. I think there is a big brown one for garden waste but you have to pay extra for that service so don't do it.

[ShakyTheStork]

Humph! In Wales we only get 2 bins, one black bin (for general waste) and a brown bin for garden waste. They get collected on alternate weeks.

However, we also have a blue box for wine bottles, white bag for plastic bottles and a separate white bag for tins and cans.

Oh, and a food caddy and a blue bag for paper.

We always get mixed up with the collection days.

[TheDetective]

I think Impatientismymiddlename and ExitPursuedByABear may be in my vicinity, as I also have those colours!

I have the same bins < looks shifty>.

I don't use anything but the black one, and in summer, green one.

I make DP go to the tip twice in the second week! I got fed up trying to work out what goes where. And being told off. So fuck it.

[CointreauVersial]

Just to be contrary, our council has a green bin for general rubbish, and a black bin for mixed recycling.

And a food bin.
And a black crate for paper.....

OP - garden waste isn't recycled as such, in the way that glass, paper etc, are re-used. It may be composted, but you can't recycle it. So it doesn't go in the recycling bin.

[gallicgirl]

We have to pay for garden waste too. I live in an area with lots of terraces and flats so I guess majority of residents wouldn't have gardens. For the same reason we don't have wheelie bins.

[AntoinetteCosway]

We have a black bin for waste, a green bin for garden waste and then 3 black tubs for recycling-no differentiation between glass, plastic, paper etc. I carried on sorting it like we had to in our old place until I saw the recycling truck one week and realised that they just shove all the recycling in together. Weird. I guess my council pay someone else to sort it all out. Either that or they don't recycle it at all.

[OldVikingDudeHidMyTubeSocks]

I'm feeling thankful to my council!

We have a green bin which is garden waste and food waste.

Black bin for non recycle stuff.

Black bin with red lid for paper, cardboard, plastic and glass. (I was ever so chuffed when we got these instead of a box, I could stop having to hide the wine bottles under the tins so the neighbours wouldn't judge)

Black bin one week, green and red the next. Can never remember which week is which so always have to rely on what the neighbours put out.

[HSMMaCM]

We have to pay for our garden waste bin

[IShallCallYouSquishy]

We have black bin for non recyclable
Green for plastic, paper, tins, cardboard etc
And we pay for a brown one for out garden waste

Out council don't take glass at the kerbside collections so have to traipse to bottle bank with jars which is a PITA

[RuddyDuck]

Ooh, prettybird , I'd love a purple bin.

Chez Ruddyduck, we have:
green wheelie bin for garden waste and food waste (cooked and raw, including meat)
blue wheelie bin for plastic, glass, metal, paper, cardboard, tetrapak, etc
bkack wheelie bin for everything else

[WeAreEternal]

We have five full sized bins.

Garden waste
Food waste
Paper/cardboard
Plastic/glass
General waste

The bins are a PITA as they take up so much space.
They are emptied n a four weekly cycle.
Week 1 - food & P/C
Week 2 - garden
Week 3 - food & P/G
Week 4 - general.
So every bin is only emptied once a month, which is why we have big wheelie bins, a lot of people complain about it though, especially if they refused to take your bin one week.

They used to do it on a two weekly schedule, so employing 2 bins a week and food still every other but the cut it down last year.

Personally I prefer it as it forces people to recycle as they have no choice but to split their rubbish accross the bins.

[QueenOfThorns]

I was a bit at that, Impatient, but I've just looked on the Council website and it says it goes for composting.

So maybe we're not in the same area. Either that, or they're lying on their website!

[prettybird]

Like weegieum we have:

Blue bin: plastic, cardboard, tin, aluminium (but not tetrapaks)- collected fortnightly
Purple bin: glass - collected every four weeks (every 2nd blue bin collection)
Silver caddy bin: food waste - collected weekly
Brown bin: Garden waste (no soil unless you make sure your bin is not too heavy and hid it under "light" waste ) - collected alternate weeks to the blue bin, from March to October, with one collection in January for Christmas trees
Green bin: everything else, collected fortnightly (same week as brown bin/alternate week to blue bin)

As we live in a house split into two, that means that there are TEN bins in our driveway! Fortunately we have a decent sized driveway and reasonable neighbours, so they get tucked away near the bottom and don't get in the way.

Unlike our previous neighbours, who didn't like the bins left in the driveway "because that's what the Asians do" and didn't see anything wrong with all the bins being left at the back of the house in the entrance area to our garden! "because that's where they've always been" . They didn't seem to realise that two bins is different to (at the time) 8 bins and said if we were bothered "the council didn't recycle anyway and we should ask it to take away the blue bins" . At that point, we started to refuse to let them use our area. They moved shortly afterwards

[Impatientismymiddlename]

I think Impatientismymiddlename and ExitPursuedByABear may be in my vicinity, as I also have those colours!

If you are in my area then you will also know that the councils policy of food and garden waste together means that they burn all the green bin waste instead of sending it to composting (which they could do if they separated food and garden stuff).
Not very environmentally friendly.
I still prefer this system though rather than those who have to pay for garden waste to be taken or get rid of it themselves.

[HappyAgainOneDay]

Isn't it time that Councils got their act together and had a unified system. they could then work together. In West Berkshire, we have:

Green wheelie bin - garden waste
Green crate - paper and cardboard
Green crate - glass or any sort
Green bag - tins and plastic bottles
Small green caddy - food waste
Black wheelie bin - every thing else

I feel sorry for those with small gardens and those in terraced houses where they have to keep their bins out the front (Reading Borough). Doesn't look very naice, does it?

[ItsAFuckingVase]

We also have a green bin for general waste and a green bin with blue lid for recycling. I've noticed loads of tags on recycling bins in the last couple of months so they must be clamping down on misuse here.

We can have an extra brown bin for garden waste if we want.

[supersop60]

We have a blue bin for recycling - bottles, cartons etc
Black bin for general household waste, both fortnightly,
Brown bin for food waste (all sorts) - collected weekly,
I think you have to ask the council specifically for a garden waste bin, they don't just dole them out.

[PestoSunnyissimos]

You're lucky if you get garden waste taken, here they don't take it at all. We have to either compost or take it to the tip ourselves.

[Fenton]

Can't you look on your local council website to see what's allowed in that blue top bin? All could become clear.

I'm worried I'm overinvested in this thread about bins.

[LiberalLibertine]

Our council is crap..... one for land fill, one for plastic and paper and cans. None for glass, ever. You can rent a separate one for garden waste, but can't put peelings or anything in it

[TidyDancer]

Could you have put soil in the bin? Where I live, the council (who are very good) collect most garden waste but don't take soil.

We have three bins, one for rubbish, one for garden waste and one for other recycling. The paper is collected seperately in a box.

[BellaVita]

We have a blue bin - cardboard, cans, glass, cartons, tin foil, tins, yoghurt pots and anything plastic that food comes in ie chicken, mince or a ready meal which can be washed out.

Brown bin - all garden waste.

Green bin - anything not suitable to go into the above two.